Rwanda has had the rare chance to completely reinvent itself. Having suffered one of the most gruesome genocides in human history in 1994, the country’s progress is astounding.

Not only has Rwanda banned all non-degradable plastic bags, but community street cleaning days occur monthly, there is an abundance of green parks, and solar panels cover several roofs. There are also some banned car use days every year. Talk about taking sustainability seriously.

While the rest of Africa is "drowning" in thrash, incapable of managing waste, Rwanda is sparkling clean.

However, while the ban on plastic bags looks fantastic on paper, in reality, it's stirring real trouble. The government did ban plastic bags but they did not provide a viable alternative for people heavily relying on them.

The war on plastic bags has negatively affected traders in markets that rely on plastic to package and sell their products. Carrying a dripping and sticky paper bag of raw meat home is not ideal, some products need more durable material than paper. As a result, a black market for plastic bags emerged and people smuggle them across the Congolese border.

Afraid of losing Kigali's green title, authorities are busy catching the illegal smuggling of plastic bags into the country. Consequences of getting caught with plastic bags are as drastic as going to prison. Plastic bags are like drugs and arms on this border. On the Congolese side, smugglers are detained for arbitrary crimes, beatings and bribes occur, and sex trafficking is routine.

To this day, Rwanda is incredibly reliant on international aid, which could explain why the appearance of sustainability is so important to the country. More foreign aid gets pumped into the country if it maintains its promise to manage plastic. It's truly an achievement to stand out as the single country in Africa that has its waste management under control, but this is not a direct reflection on the quality of life in Rwanda.

Despite Rwanda’s progressive appearance, according to Al Jazeera, almost half of the population “lives below the national poverty line, one in four households live in extreme poverty, and more than 50 percent of children are chronically malnourished." Clearly, the greenest city in Africa is not as squeaky clean as it appears to be.